Throwback Thursday: Steelers ‘American Bowl’ appearances

Steel City Underground takes fans back in time to feature events, special moments, and historical times and players in the world of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers Nation. Join us in our “Steelers Throwback Thursday” series as we revisit these moments.

As most Pittsburgh Steelers fans know by now, the team will once again travel internationally during the upcoming 2025 NFL regular season. They will play host in the first ever NFL regular season game at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, in September 2025. Although it is not officially listed among the famous NFL American Bowl games, we thought it would be fun to look back at games in that series that the Steelers historically took part in ahead of their trip to the Emerald Isle.

The American Bowl series

The American Bowl was a series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States between 1986 and 2005. Although international games had been held prior to the American Bowl series, the NFL adopted a policy of at least one overseas game per year after the ’86 season.

The American Bowl was a fifth pre-season game, played the same weekend as the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, and did not take away a game from the participating teams’ pre-season schedules.

The games

The Steelers’ first appearance in an American Bowl game took place on August 9, 1990. The location was Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada.

Known for hosting the 1976 Summer Olympics, “The Big O” (a reference the the UFO-shaped coliseum and donut-shaped roof, has hosted the Montreal Expos (MLB) (1977–2004), Montreal Alouettes/Concordes (CFL) (1976–86, 1996–97, part-time 1998–2013),
Montreal Manic (NASL) (1981–83),
Montreal Machine (WLAF) (1991–92), and
CF Montréal (MLS) (2012–present, select games).

At the time of the Steelers vs Patriots game, Montreal had no CFL team (after the Concordes/Alouettes had folded in 1987) and saw it as an opportunity to reinvest football fans into their market.

The Steelers, under Chuck Noll, were able to hand the Patriots a 30-14 loss and start their 1990 NFL preseason with a victory.

Later that season, in Week 14, Noll would earn his 200th career victory when Pittsburgh beat New England during the regular season.